Almost a decade back, e-commerce had started as a fad. People could now buy items online which they would hitherto purchase in a showroom or store. The original categories were books and electronics which extended to include fashion, grocery and everything. People were just happy to get their desired brands, products directly at home. Simple (or free) returns and cancellations also aided in the aadoption. Some folks in metros were lucky to get the products same day or next day. Amazon launched its Prime program centered around same/one day delivery. In metros, with high density of orders, BigBasket and the likes were able to provide same day slots for grocery as well. It all seemed to work pretty fine. Of course, there were multiple logistics experts optimizing inventory, logistics and other aspects of fulfilment.

Of course, COVID upended this finely managed process resulting in delays and supply chain bottlenecks. However, as things begin to stabilize, we saw a spurt of hyperlocal startups taking up shape. Swiggy launched its Instamart to ensure 30 min delivery. If this wasn't all, we saw the likes of Zepto offering delivery in 10 minutes. Dunzo, Blinkit (earlier Grofers), BigBasket have followed. While, there are variations in delivery times depending on location and time of day, it's still much faster as compared to you buying groceries from a local store. The pertinent question is whether this is convenince or indulgence?

There are definitely some times when you need the items then and there. People would be familiar with such situations where you are sent to the local shop to get something on an urgent basis. I think the guys can heave a sigh of relief as now you can get the same delivered much faster. All this requires meticulate planning and operations. Where the dark store should come up, what items to stock (and when to replensish), demand estimation, availability of delivery personnel, it's a great problem to solve from an oeprations perspective. However, evidently, this is expensive from an organization perspective. Having dedicated delivery personnels who deiver to one specific location means you can't aggregate orders and enjoy economies of scale on logistics. The process control also needs to be tightened. To be sure most platforms are trying to create a market by offering discounts and not charging delivery fees. In an interview some time back, the Dunzo founder said we are ready to fight this war even if we have to bleed for long. This is a standard PE-VC managed start-up ecosystem. Throwing lot of money to get customers addicted in a hope that when eventually competition dwindles, they will be the one standing and be the price makers - hoping to charge more than what they incur. These start-ups have all raised new rounds with lot of capital to fight this quick-commerce war. A decade has seen the e-commerce industry evolve in various formats.

Coming back to the question of this post - is it convenience or indulgence. A lot of people are just too happy to recieve this special treatment. If delivery didn't happen this fast, would they be OK, yes. But, the mere presence changes a lot of habits. Instead of ordering veggies for the entire week, now you can order on a daily basis. The orders are disaggregated. This puts this form of e-commerce in direct competition with the other forms. And of course, the biggies are in the race too. What does it mean for the customers? They are in for a treat as they get more relaistic set of options allowing for faster delivery times in metros. Their purchasing habits come a full circle allowing for order whenever you feel like. There is going to be more 'casualization' here. The e-commerce sellers on the other platforms now get an opportunity to offer products across various delivery timelines. Sometimes the access itself becomes the differentiator. If a brand A is available on a quick commerce platform while brand B not, brand A ends up eating market share. Quick-commerce is a feature which is here to stay and people's behaviour will evolve to make it the new normal.

E-commerce industry has seen multiple phases - from everything stores like Amazon, Flipkart to specialied stores like Jabong and Myntra, Urban Ladder and Nykaa to social commerce like Meesho and Citymall to B2B players like Udaan and Moglix to phygital formats like JioMart to Quick commerce stores like Zepto, Blinkit, Dunzo, BBNow and Swiggy Instamart. And we will see it continually evolve.